Command Lines: Alive & Kicking

Command Lines: Alive & Kicking

A little while back, I was at an introductory lecture on interaction design. The presenter introduced the various types of interfaces during this lecture, ranging from the desktop-metaphor GUIs to the newer natural user interfaces (NUIs). It was all pretty basic stuff, but one remark struck me: while going through the types of UIs, the presenter briefly mentioned the command line interface (CLI), and commented: "We don't want this thing anymore." I thought that was quite a bold statement; apparently the presenter had written off CLIs as relics of the past when usability wasn't a major concern.

But CLIs are still very much alive. In fact, I believe they're making a comeback in a new and evolved form. New CLIs are currently being developed, even if their developers don't realize they're building a CLI. So why would command lines be a user's nightmare?

The Crappy Old Stuff

A big drawback of CLIs is their nonexistent discoverability. You can't look around a CLI, open some menus, or hover over icons to discover the application's functions and possibilities. A blinking cursor, waiting for input, doesn't reveal anything about the options available to you. And the standard-issue CLI doesn't provide any feedback other than plain text responses to executed requests. There's no pre-execution feedback or validation—no green check mark to indicate a successful operation, nor readability-focused typography.

Having to learn syntax doesn't have to be that big a deal, were it not that this same syntax is often perversely abstract. An oft-used approach is to reduce options to their beginning letters. Doing this is all good for speed, but all that speed-gain is lost when you don't know how the commands are named in the first place. For simply viewing folder contents, the programmer could just as easily have used "-b" for Browse, "-o" for Open or "-e" for Expand. Instead, he went with "-l", the "List" verb. Having to remember that -l stands for List isn't that hard, but remembering a different argument for each letter in the alphabet is a lot to ask of a user. And let's not even get started on case sensitivity. Compounding this complexity is the fact that virtually every application or system that uses a CLI has its own syntax.

Evolution

These drawbacks aren't major issues, though, nor have traditional CLIs become totally obsolete. Many system engineers and Linux users prefer to use the command line over any other option. Once someone has mastered the CLI—despite its many syntaxes and case-sensitive arguments—it is often simpler and faster to use. These so-called "power-users" can execute system commands using just their keyboards, and can do it faster than most people can click on a button.

Additionally, the drawbacks I mentioned earlier are based on the archaic command lines as used in the early days of DOS and UNIX. In those days, a single-color, single fixed-width font command line was all that could be displayed on a screen. A lot has changed since then.[1] But improvements in typography and computer displays didn't change the nature of the CLI; it still involves typing commands by hand into a textbox. However, they do provide a new opportunity for the usability of CLIs to improve, as an interface's usability is not solely limited to how it's operated: the app's graphics, interaction design, and many other factors can affect its perceived usability.

The ways CLIs can be improved with today's graphics rendering capabilities is evidenced by a fusion between the GUI and the CLI: the keyboard-based app launcher. In essence, keyboard app launchers are command lines ensconced in an application window, which makes it possible to enhance them using established usability principles like contrast, grouping, and simple aesthetic appeal.

This idea has been around for quite a while already. Windows users can use Launchy, Find-And-Run-Robot, and Executor[2], Linux has Gnome-Do, and many Mac users can't live without Quicksilver, or even simply Apple's own Spotlight. Mac users have another, relatively new app launcher at their disposal, one that I've personally fallen in love with: Alfred.

Each of these applications has the same principal function: to open applications or issue system commands using the keyboard whilst staying in the GUI. When invoking Alfred or any other launcher, all it shows is a text box, waiting for you to type something.[3] Usually, just the beginning letter of the application or command is enough for the launcher to show a list of possible matches. There is still syntax to learn, but providing immediate feedback on matches means you don't stay in the dark whether or not the command you issued was the right one, and the syntax uses natural language rather than single-character commands.

CLI+GUI=Awesome

How is this any better than a graphical app launcher, such as a Start Menu or a Dock? It's not—not for everyone, anyway. If you're more comfortable clicking your way through various menus to a specific application, then CLIs will only annoy and cause irritation. But many people like to keep their hands on the keyboard as much as possible. It's not a matter of right vs. wrong but simply a matter of personal preference—both approaches are able to achieve the same goals.

That said, using a CLI is simply faster. It can be invoked at all times by pressing a shortcut key on the keyboard (e.g., Option+Space for Alfred). There's no need to move your hand off the keyboard, grab the mouse, move it to an icon on the screen, click it, and then move your hand back to the keyboard. Both hands stay on the keyboard at all times, so there's a definite speed advantage.

Also, thanks to forgiving code, syntax can be much more liberal than before. Why force a verb-noun model onto your commands, when a noun-verb model conveys the same information just as well? After all, "Open Firefox" means the same thing as "Firefox: Open".[4] If synonyms for those commands are also supported, learning the syntax becomes a whole lot easier; "Browse" is the same as "List" or "Expand," and so should trigger the same action. And case-sensitivity is something that should be a thing of the past.

Coupled with the benefits the GUI has to offer, a well-designed, modern CLI is much easier to use than traditional CLIs. Let's call the fusion of the CLI with the GUI a Graphic Command Line, or GCL.

One example of a GCL's benefits over traditional CLIs is the ability to display a predictive list of results as the user types, which reduces keystrokes and provides immediate feedback, much like Google Instant. Icons also enhance the usability of GCLs; icons are more recognizable than text labels, so user interactions can be quicker. GCLs can also use typography to indicate relevance and hierarchy through font-size, indentation, and the like.

App launchers like Launchy, Spotlight, and Alfred work on an OS level, so they have no interface into an individual application's functions. But that doesn't mean that a GCL implementation can't be used in applications. For example: you've developed a brochure in a publishing application like InDesign, but notice some of the graphics are a bit too transparent. You could edit them all one-by-one by right-clicking, selecting "Edit style," selecting the transparency control and adjusting it by moving a slider. If you had a GCL on call, you could simply invoke it and type something like "Opacity 100". Auto-completion would help not having to type every single letter. That would give you a massive speed gain.

Granted, not all software would benefit with an additional GCL. Not all commands are well-suited or even possible to issue via command line, such as Photoshop's brush tool, or making selections of multiple objects. But that doesn't mean a GCL couldn't benefit the app in many other use cases. Microsoft Office applications like Word or Excel, for example, could benefit a lot, in much the same way as in the brochure example. In fact, Excel's formula bar is already kind of like a GCL. Typing the "=" operand displays predictive text and tips for completing formulas.

Excel isn't the only product that features a CLI-derivative that we are unaware of. Most applications do: everyone knows that CTRL/Command+S means Save, and CTRL/Command+O means Open. Issuing commands using these key combinations is essentially like using an invisible CLI. But these key combos often don't give enough feedback. In my personal experience, the only way I know an app received my Save command is the cursor changing to its busy state, but this happens so quickly that it's barely noticeable. Invoking a GCL to issue a Save command may require more keystrokes, but if the result is better feedback, it's a good tradeoff.[5]

It's important to keep in mind GCL's don't have to replace the GUI of the application: they can be a complementary mode of interaction, which stay hidden until the user explicitly summons them.

CLIs are not the antithesis of usability. Just as the GUI has, the CLI can evolve, and it's already happening. Taking inspiration from the GUI and taking into account lessons everything we know about usability today, the command line can be a seriously usable interface, especially as a complement to the "regular" GUI approach of today's applications. It's not a matter of which type of interface is better; it's a matter of making the entire application better. The mouse and keyboard have always existed in peaceful harmony, and that harmony can get even better by close study of their interaction with both user and application.

Footnotes

[1] This old-skool type of CLI is still actively used in today's OSes. Windows' Command Prompt, Mac's Terminal, and Linux' Console are all remnants of those early days. [back to text][2]Humanized's Enso, co-developed by Mozilla's current Creative Lead Aza Raskin, kicked the collective asses of these three in terms of usability, but unfortunately has since fallen into development limbo. [back to text][3] Many of Alfred's features and uses can be achieved with the other applications, but for the sake of the article I'm sticking with Alfred for examples. [back to text][4] There is a bit of a difference though. In the case of app launchers, the verb-noun model addresses the operating system, whereas the noun-model model addresses the target application. [back to text][5] Yes, feedback can also be improved without implementing a CLI. But keep in mind that such a command line won't be used for just saving and opening. The entire range of functions would be implemented. [back to text]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Max Steenbergen is the resident UI & graphic designer for a Dutch company developing yacht-monitoring software. Being completely self-taught in the ways of user experience, interfaces and graphics, he's about to follow a 3-year course called Communication & Multimedia Design to gain more knowledge on the subject. He blogs about UIs and UX at http://face-value.tumblr.com and is on Twitter @maxsteenbergen.

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Comments

November 21, 2010

FYI: there is a really easy way to see if a file was saved upon Cmd+S on the Mac; the file icon has a lower opacity when there are unsaved changes and becomes fully opaque when you save. That is the indicator I use to see if my file was saved.

(1) InDesign actually has its own command line, and it's one of my favorite features. (I wish Photoshop and Illustrator would adopt it.) Cmd-Enter brings up the "Quick Apply" window, which is an autocomplete list of every available menu command, paragaph style, character style, and object style. Hit Enter to apply.

(2) There are projects like the Fish shell (http://fishshell.org/) trying to bring greater usability back to the traditional command line.

(3) There's also Mozilla's Ubiquity, a sort of extensible command line for the browser: http://mozillalabs.com/ubiquity/

I've often thought that the Google search box in the browser is the new command line. Chrome takes this further by merging the URL address box with the search box. It's smarter and more forgiving than a traditional command line. In a similar way Google's smart calendar event create interface ("12pm lunch") is another example of a modern smart command line.

They only work faster as long as there are unlimited options in terms of commands. If you have a command line with 3 tasks it can perform, it does so no faster than a GUI with 3 buttons. I would argue that any application that offers unlimited options is in itself badly designed. Few users use even 10% of the functions in their regular programs; anybody else can be considered a power user. Nobody uses 100% of anything though, there really is a hard deck of functions any one software can handle before it becomes cluttered. Having a command line that does all that plus the kitchen sink is instead a huge waste of time, especially if it requires learning an obscure syntax and even worse if the use of the interface becomes a required part of the workflow, which many proponents of CLI seem to assume.

I would probably occasionally use a CLI if it were integrated as an option in my GUI, but at no point do I want to depend on it.

When you use a modern IDE for programming, it presents you with optional syntax help when you type a function name or keyword. A GCL should ideally do that, to give you the context you need to get your CLI work done.

I'm dyed-in-the-wool CLI. I don't think anyone who got his or her start on the CLI thinks it's dead. GUI is great but it's the difference between buying milk or actually milking the cow. If you're a farmer, the milking is the important party.

As a programmer of over 30 years, I have always disliked the CLI interface for having to remember the syntax of every operation you want to use within each operating system.

The only reason that the GUI/GCL methods have not taken over more areas is that the people who are doing most of the development for those areas like CLI. There is no reason that a properly designed GUI utility cannot be just as fast to use, easier to learn or use on a infrequent basis.

For example, I work on my linux systems just a few times a year and I cringe everytime I have to do that cause I know I will have to try and figure out what CLI commands I need to do simple things.

With a little thought, GUI's can do things just as fast or faster, its all in the design, which does not seem to be a priority for command line area developers.

I notice that in none of these articles is the Wacom (or any other brand of) graphics tablet discussed as an input device.

I am one of those who does not like having to let go of a computer mouse just so I can resume typing. I love CLI, but it doesn't gel well when working in a "graphical" frame of mind.

The beauty of using a tablet and stylus is that one doesn't actually have to let go of the stylus to continue typing. The stylus' position is adjusted just as if it were a pen or pencil.

If anyone reading this comment has ever shuddered at the prospect of using a graphics tablet instead of a mouse, then I challenge you to try one.

I've been using one for several years; my children use them; my computer-illiterate partner uses one; and I'm slowly converting my colleagues to using graphics tablets during programming to significantly speed up the process by cutting out hand-to-mouse-to-desk-to-keyboard actions.

Just remember that while you may have no qualms about stirring your coffee with your pen or pencil, don't try it with a stylus. It kinda kills them.

All very well, but unless there is integration with programs, we still don't have discoverability. Typing 'f' and seeing find, as there is a program called 'find' on the system is fine, but unless app's have a standard way to provide CLI-help, how does the CLI know that, for example, "-i" may make the find case-insensitive.

OK, this info can be maintained in some kind of database, but that requires users and or app-developers to do that. In my experience, developers are bad enough even commenting code for other developers, let alone end-users.

In short, I suspect CLI's will firmly remain a tool of power-users for the foreseeable future.

I'm currently working with a large airline and they run their ancient CLI app alongside their less-ancient but oldish GUI system that does the same thing. In fact, when you startup the GUI app, the CLI app also starts. Many times the CLI app is the only way to get certain info and the old salts who grew up with are far more efficient using it than the GUI app. It is, as the article notes, much quicker for many people to type a simple command rather than pecking through 16 menus to get the same thing. If you know the command to type. IF.
As the airline moves toward a newer GUI app I'll bet the ground troops will demand that the CLI app be retained.

Yep! as project manager, architect or system developer CLI's will offer you a lot when it comes to automation of tasks, I've recently been using Windows Powershell, which has reduced a lot of my older scripts to less than half the size and even easier to read. Writing You can even download freeware like PowerGUI which is a script IDE to help you debug the stuff - recommended :-)

Don't forget AutoCAD, which was CLI from the start, user would revolt if we were to ever remove it, while there are surely many improvements to be made to it, it is a very useful and powerful way to interact with the software. After working in AutoCAD and moving to other application i find myself frequently clicking on objects and beginning to type mirror… only to be disappointed when nothing happens.